Marketing Data for the Small Business

ALL businesses should have a marketing database!

There are marketing data initiatives for all business types, ranging from the corner shop-keeper and car sales showroom (selling to consumers) to the business management consultant and accountant.

The first stage of getting the right prospect data list is to identify WHO buys your products and services.

CONSUMER DATA

For consumer customers, the most useful data field is usually the geography of the prospects. The majority of a corner shop’s customers usually come from the same postcode district, whilst car showrooms may attract consumers from slightly further afield.

Another highly important variable may include affluence (especially for high-value items such as cars), so a houshold income estimator may be applied. Or for other items (such as hot tubs) a household premise type indicator may be used; such as detahced houses with gardens.

Haviong established a database of viable consumer prospects, it is then a question of how best to use the information. Every time you have contact with your customers or prospects, new information should be gleaned. For example, email addresses or even birthdays. This allows regular contact for updating your prospects with new proucts and services, or sending them a personally signed birthday card.

BUSINESS DATA

Business prospect data is usually selected by one or more of the following variables;

  • Geography (typically by postcode, town or county)
  • Industry (there are 2,000 industry types to choose from!)
  • Premise type (e.g. warehouses make great prospects for fork lift truck companies)
  • Company size (turnover or employee size indicates an ability to afford your service)
  • Senior contact name job title (What do the job titles “Landlord”, “Head Teacher”, “Managing Director”, “Branch Manager”, “Solicitor” and “Dentist” tell you about the business they work for ?)
  • Date established or incorporated (new businesses are great prospects. For example, they would not have filed their first year’s accounts which makes great prospects for accountants. Or legislation (such as asbestos management enforcement in 2,000) makes the premises older than this great for a prospect data list.
  • Number of sites: ideal for targeting the single-site company, or (for example) multi-site computer software.

Beware of data pitfalls!

Not all data is as it seems! For example, if you wanted a target data list of businesses with 5 or more employees nthen Responsiva recommends (in certain circumstances) considering 6+ employees instead. The reason is how and when this information has been gathered (i.e., having 5 employees). Employee size is a fluid variable and can change, but is also gathered “as quoted by the business in question”. A proud business owner may regard their business as having 5 employees, when in reality there is just the owner, an inactive spouse and two temps.

 

At Responsiva you will be guided through the pitfalls to ensure your chosen data list is fit for purpose, rather than maximising our own sales potential by providing you data you don’t need.

Providing the right marketing data list for your company is what Responsiva does best, and when you call us you will speak with a real expert in the field of prospect data; someone who cares about you getting the right data and not about maximising sales potential by peppering your data list with undesirable or inappropriate prospect data.

To contact Responsiva, you only need to call on the freephone number  0800 118 500  or send an email to info@responsiva.biz

Your marketing is important to us!